Second Week

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.



The plants will now require particular attention and a nice

discrimination in the application of water: it may be comprehended by

all persons interested in gardening operations, that when the soil on

the surface of the pot looks damp it will not require water until it

gets thoroughly dry at this season, and then it is to be given before

the plant droops or flags for want of it. But when the plant droops and

the soil on the surface appears damp, the cause is then to be discovered

by turning the ball out of the pot, when it will be seen whether the

whole or only a portion of the soil is wet; as it sometimes happens,

when fresh potted with light soil, it shrinks from the sides of the pot

when dry, and when water is given it runs down and moistens the outside,

without penetrating the ball. The evil is corrected by holding it for

a short space of time in a tub of water of the same temperature as the

house. If the soil of any plant is sodden with water it should be turned

out of the pot, and the drainage examined, and no water to be given

until it becomes thoroughly dry.



Verbenas.--They require to be kept tolerably dry, as they are more

susceptible of injury from damp than from cold; a top shelf near the

glass in the greenhouse is a very suitable place for them. If mildew

appears, to be dusted with flowers of sulphur.





STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.



Although all plants now at rest should be kept comparatively dry, they

will require to be looked over daily to see that they do not suffer for

want of water. The temperature not to exceed 60 deg. by fire heat, and

a fall of 10 deg. may be allowed at night in very cold weather. Many of

the stove plants--such as Aphelandras, Justicias, Poinsettias, &c.--may

now be cut down altogether, and kept dry for a few weeks, which will

cause them to make an early growth, and to come into flower a few weeks

sooner next winter.



Gesneras.--Select a few roots of them and a few of the Gloxinias to

start into growth to produce a succession of flowers.





FORCING-HOUSES.



Asparagus.--If the soil in the bed is dry, give it a liberal supply

of water, so that it may descend to the roots, as unproductiveness is

sometimes caused by the soil at the roots being very dry when the top is

kept moist by gentle waterings.



Beans (Dwarf Kidney).--Sow every three weeks, if a constant supply is

wanted. Keep the early crops well supplied with water, and give them

frequent sprinklings overhead, to prevent the attacks of red spider.



Mushrooms.--An abundance of water to be thrown about the floors. If the

beds are dry, to be syringed with lukewarm water, applying it like dew

at intervals for a few hours. Temperature from 50 deg. to 60 deg., with

air occasionally in favourable weather.



Peaches.--Continue previous directions. The trees in bloom to be

artificially impregnated, and the foreright shoots to be rubbed off

a few at a time before they become too large. Currents of air to be

carefully avoided, especially when the trees are in bloom, as they have

been sometimes observed to sustain injury from the two end doors

being left open for a short time. Air to be given at the top daily in

favourable weather.



Pines.--As the days lengthen and the light increases the plants that are

swelling their fruit should be supplied with a gradual increase of heat

(from 65 deg. at night to 75 deg. or 80 deg. in the middle of the day in

clear weather), water, and atmospheric moisture; while others that

are in bloom and starting into fruit require more air or more moderate

temperature, care in watering and less atmospheric humidity. Some of

the strongest succession plants that are grown in pots to receive their

final shift, that they may make their growth for fruiting in May or

June. In old-fashioned pits or houses, where the flues run near the

tan-bed, the plants should be closely examined, as they are apt to be

injured by fire heat in such a situation.



Strawberries.--A few dozens more pots may be placed in a frame where

there is a gentle heat and an atmosphere more congenial to their healthy

growth than in a house.



Vines.--When they have made shoots two or three inches long, the night

temperature to range from 60 deg. to 65 deg., with an increase of from 5

deg. to 10 deg. during the day.





PITS AND FRAMES.



Keep the plants in these structures as hardy as possible by fully

exposing them in mild weather, but do not give any more water than is

absolutely necessary. Remove all decayed and decaying leaves, and keep

the atmosphere in as healthy a state as possible.



Make small hotbeds for sowing Cucumbers and Melons, Radishes and Early

Horn Carrots, Cauliflower and Walcheren Broccoli, Lettuce, and

various other things, which will be found useful where the late severe

weather, or other cause, may have diminished the autumn sowings.